The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1887-05-25
HAMILTON-GAMBRELL TRIAL.
TcoSTIsuED FROM SECOND PAGE !

e CONTINUED FROM SECOND PAGE
: and all the cloth was powder-burne tn
bullet fred into Wyatt's building could no
have passed through the top of the car
rage. The outside of the top of the wagoi
is made of canvas painted; the lining Is 0
light material A bullet fired into tn
wagon would have pushed the lining n
until it reached point of tension, then
would go through the holes would not in
dictate the range of the bullet Witnes
could FIRE a single-action in six seconds,
double-action Smith & Wesson in abou
the same time. shooting scrape witt
e two such weapons would last between sil
and ten seconds. The jar of beating {
man with pistol would materially affec
Its usefulness. II would certainly have
some effect on the rotary movement of the
weapon.
! There Is a space between the chord and
the post at the bridge through which per
son could pass Had made observations OF
the locating of sounds at night; found that
it was impossible to locate sound at night;
never heard of a man who could do it;
light was worse than sound; had tried to
kill turkeys by sounds and found it impos-
sible; had watched skirmish line firing,
but could not tell in which direction flash
came; would have to see the muzzle of a
weapon to decide this; could make a survey
in day and furnish the measurements,
but it would require some time to make
the diagram.
| He was instructed to do this work at
once
COL. EAMILroS's CLOTHING WAS PUT ON A
GENTLEMAN.
| Witness said that if the arm was resting
on the knee with the knee elevated and the
| thumb up, the bullet could have passed
| through the arm, and had a tendency to
| range towards the stomach. If the arm
was lying on the rail with the palm up, the
| shot in the arm could have been inflicted
From the position of the holes in the cloth
ing witness should think that the wounds
were inflicted while the wounded man was
left in front. Did not think any man in
action would expose his left side. Col.
Hamilton was a right-handed man.
A pencil was here passed through the
two holes in the coat sleeve, through the
coat and through the vest, and witness af- |
man receiving the wound must have been
sitting down when he was shot. No one
could gauge fire at night.
By the State-Could not distinguish |
light or sound by night. The probabilities |
are that the wounds in Hamilton's forearm |
and in his abdomen were made by the one |
bullet. 1t was more reasonable to believe |
that the bullet passed over the arm than |
under. Could not tell by the coat how the |
bullet would strike the flesh. Thought |
that the bullet was one fired to the left and |
in front of the man receiving the wound |
When man is standing up the hole in the |
vest is below the one in the coat.
Witness illustrated his theory by making |
- 81 Har,4T+p,,'s cI
ing on get up. The hole in the vest was |
lower than the one in the coat. This, he
said, would prove that the man was not
standing when wounded. Witness made |
the man sit down and illustrated the range
of the bullet when sitting. Believed that |
the holes were made by the same bullet be-
cause the holes we're larger at the exit than
at the entrance The exit holes were con
stantIy increasing, and if the holes were
not made by one ball, then two pistols had
been used. Had not arrived at this con-
clusion until after he had examined the
clothing, which he did for the first time
in the courtroom at the present sitting. If
all four of the holes were not made by the
same ball, they were made by two differ
ent sized pistol or rifle balls. The four
balls referred to e,two through the sleeve,
one through the coat and one through the
vest.
If the arm was resting with thumb up
the range was towards the elbow. If the
wound was received with the palm of the
hand down, or with the palm up, the /
wounds would been identical, the differ |
ence being simply in the range. Witness
here sat with his legs crossed, and his left
hand resting palm up on his knee. In this
position he said the wounds could be re
ceived.
Mr.. Allen here produced the samples of
cloth on which witness had experimental |
with the pistols, and Intercepted the wit
ness closely on the subject.
Mr.. Fontaine produced one piece of
cloth through which one bullet had passed, |
making two holes the entrance showed an
angle marked by the lead stains around the |
edges, while the exit revealed perfectly |
round hole. marked regularly around the /
edges with bullet-lead. Witness was
asked why he did not make the expert
ments with the same kind of cloth with
which the wagon was lined. He said that |
he got on piece as near as be could |
like it, and fired one shot into it the ex- |
periments were made with white cloth so |
as to display the powder burns clearly to |
the Judge and attorneys.
The bullet hole in the vest was two aud |
one-quarter inches from the median line. |
The wound in the abdomen was two and one |
half inches to the left, that is, SO the wit |
nesses state. This being the case, the vest |
might have heen twisted when the shot was
fired discovered the hole in the top of the |
buggy by the light shining through the |
hole in the top ; had heard that Hamilton |
was seated on the right side of the buggy, |
and for that reason glanced up and noticed |
the hole in the roof made up his mind as |
to what side the shot came from when he |
heard of the shooting went to the bridge |
after breakfast /; found out the direction of |
the ball in the post of the wire fence by |
taking observations. The ball was going |
more westward after it struck than before. |
The bullet was not fred to the north. Wit |
ness will undertake to tell the exact direc-
ton of ball if he is shown a piece of
wood into which it was fired. Examined
the wagon carefully, and if the cloth lin
ing is pressed up to the hole in the roof
the light will strike a point over the wheel
the vision could also be directed through
the back door.
In his opinion the bullet was fred from
line even with the northwest corner of the
carriage, when the carrige was going east.
If the shot was fired at man sitting, it
was bad shot if fred at a man in the
act of getting up, it was good shot. 1t is
difficult thing to do to get out of vehi-
Gle going pretty fast. Saw other linden
tions on the walk of the bridge, and took
the direction of the bullets which made
them.
1t was now 80 p. M, and court took a
recess. Mr. Fontaine being on the stand at
that time.